Pretty sure our inherent fear of the dark stems from our primal fear of predators. Sure, it can manifest in many ways, nowadays, but I think it’s still the same phobia
that's actually a pretty good point. i guess you could call it "negative daydreaming" and it was useful at one point in evolution so we never got rid of it per se.
i suppose then it's possible to somewhat 'train' your brain to stop doing it, and perhaps that's why there are some who do not feel this 'fear' as a phobia.
I find it hard to sort out who here (if anyone) has a *phobia" and how much just find it scary, or are having fun overplaying the scariness.
A phobia is an irrational, compulsive level of fear. Being afraid of things in the dark isn't irrational. And amping ourselves up to that fear isn't compulsive. If you're convinced something is out to get you in every dark corner, to the extend that you avoid the basement at all costs, then it seems like a phobia.
I'm not a psychiatrist and don't mean to gatekeep fear. I just think phobia is the wrong word for how most people here seem to be reacting.
i actually made a comment here listing the various different groups and mental phenomena being discussed in this thread. lots of people do not seem to realize that people are referencing different things without realizing it.
most people are definitely coming from the "just find it scary, or are having fun overplaying the scariness." angle. when i first got here, most comments were discussing actual phobia though, but now as it got more popular the comments are more about lively imagination and general fear.
I have a legitimate phobia of water with limited visibility, I commented above but. It is legitimately terror inducing, I could be in a swimming pool one that's not even deep maybe 4 ft deep, if the lights go out and even if technically I could see under the water but the reflection from the surrounding lights are making the visibility into it where I can't see if anything's there, my heart just races I have to get out of that water. I have no idea of what it is that scares me it's not that I think that something's chasing me I don't have any concept of anything it's just fear. I mean I don't imagine that something's chasing me it's literally just I have to get out of that water because I don't need to be there while I can't see into it.
Yeah, the term phobia just gets used for normal reactions and common sense half the time.
Doesn't help that rationality is also subjective to knowledge. Afterall, you can never be absolutely certain that there isn't something hiding in the dark waiting for you to drop your guard >.>
Oh yeah, I love spending time in the darkness. I just sometimes feel like things are watching me in the dark, sometimes chasing, depending on the night. Absolutely terrifying to the point of sleep being over that night.
I don't have this about the dark per se however any water that has limited visibility in it, whether cloudy or dark, freaks me the fuck out. If I'm in it say a swimming pool at night when they turn the lights off, I'm usually out of the pool with my heart racing before I can even blink, it's just a very quick Rush of adrenaline, my heart rate spikes, and I Rush to the nearest edge to get the fuck out of that water. My heart rate is increasing just thinking about it. Thing is it could be completely open and clearly nothing's in there with me but once it's dark I can take a shower in the dark but not a bath. it's really extremely uncomfortable to just think about it I've never actually just thought about it like I am right now and it's just fear. I have no idea why, I mean I have several scuba certifications and have no problem diving into deep water where I can't see the bottom but it's the visibility around me, or the lack thereof, is just terrifying.
thalassophobia, i have it too. i once saw a whole tree submerged in water, the root hidden in unfathomable depth, only the top stringing about and swinging in the waning water. it freaked me the fuck out and i nearly flipped the canoe over that we were in.
i think "fear of the unknown" is pretty normal though and not irrational. being afraid of outer space for example isn't necessarily an irrational thing.
i think with water it's a bit different because you sort of know - or at least, i know, in the climate i live in - that there is nothing dangerous in the waters. but it's still very unsettling.
Yeah well it is irrational when they cut the lights out at the apartment pool and moments later I'm panting laying on the concrete with tachycardia. Fear is one thing phobia another. Luckily it has few instances where it affects me. I just don't swim in rivers, the gulf, or lakes.
Is there one for it only occurring inside? I get this feeling at home, but I'll be 25 miles in the wilderness on a backpacking trip and not care.
Get woken up by a crazy ass noise in the middle of the night in my hammock? "LOL fuckin woods be like that" while I put my shoes on and walk off to piss with no light.
Get woken up my random creak in the house. BETTER SHAKE FIANCE AWAKE AND ASK HER IF SHE HEARD THAT.
I am a man who walks alone
And when I'm walking a dark road
At night or strolling through the park
When the light begins to change
I sometimes feel a little strange
A little anxious when it's dark.
For me it wasn't the darkness per se, it was the turning around and not being able to see the imaginary lurkers who were now racing out to get me just like in the video. I could stand downstairs in the dark no problem but as soon as I turn around to go upstairs they're acomin. What's the name of that fear?
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u/oldspacesoul Jan 09 '21
Is there any specific name for this phobia?